


Splendid Child

by caswell



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: (also momneki only has like two lines sorry if u wanted more), Childhood Friends, M/M, Trans Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 04:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4989511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caswell/pseuds/caswell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kaneki notices something's off with his best friend- and crush's- behavior, he decides to investigate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Splendid Child

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Tumblr user tokyoskushu, who is the Kaneki to my Hide <3  
> Fic title is from Hideko (秀子), meaning 'splendid child', and the name i chose for Hide's deadname.  
> Anyway, I've written stories about trans characters before, but this is more accurate to my experience? So.

"My name is Nagachika Hideko, but you can call me Hide!"

Kaneki gazed wide-eyed at the girl in front of him. Her open, honest grin astonished him, so much so that he forgot to respond for a few moments. "H-hello, Hide," he said, with a soft smile of his own. "It's nice to meet you."

 

Kaneki learned soon enough that Hide was, for what seemed like a million reasons, the perfect friend. She was curious, but not nosy; she spoke for him, but never put words in his mouth. And he couldn't help but notice that she was very pretty- especially when the light of the setting sun lit up her straw-colored hair as she waved goodbye to him at the end of a long day. Kaneki's heart skipped a beat whenever Hide put her hand on his shoulder and leaned over to see what she was reading. It was a little concerning, because he didn't  _want_ to think that way about his only friend- what if it creeped her out?- but he couldn't push his feelings away.

 

"I think I have a crush on Hide," Kaneki blurted one day as his mother cooked dinner- fried rice, as per usual. After weeks of agonizing, he'd finally come to terms with it. After all, it was normal for a young boy to be in love with his female friend, right? (It _was_ a little embarrassing, though.)

"That's great, sweetheart," his mother said, as she stirred the rice in her pan. "Are you going to kiss her?"

"I think I  _want_ to," Kaneki mumbled, blushing. 'Think', he said, when he thought about her cute face and brilliant smile almost all day. No, he really did  _know_ so.

 

It was due to his piqued interest in Hide that Kaneki noticed almost immediately when she began to act strangely. She was more distracted, and seemed to be lost in thought, almost as much as Kaneki himself. Of course, she still had her signature bubbly personality; Kaneki figured Hell would freeze over before she lost  _that._ That thought wasn't enough to quell his fears, though.

The two of them were sitting on a hill near the school, Kaneki with his nose in a book and Hide picking flowers absentmindedly, when she finally spoke up.

"Kaneki," she said, a hint of nervousness in her voice, "would you be friends with a boy?" She didn't look up from the ground.

"I... don't see why not," Kaneki answered.  _What a strange question._ "I'll take what I can get. ...I don't have many friends."

Hide nodded. "Okay. And... would you  _kiss_ a boy?"

"W-What kind of question is  _that!?"_ Kaneki squeaked. "Why would you... ask me that..." Although, now that he thought about it, there wasn't any real reason he  _wouldn't._ It wasn't like people could pay any less attention to him as it was, and boys are kind of cute, he supposed. "Um... maybe? I guess so," he said quietly. "Please don't tell, though."

"I won't!" Hide promised, and Kaneki was relieved to see that she had returned to her usual sunny self, at least for the moment.

 

Hide really had gone back to her normal state of cheeriness, but there was one thing that seemed  _different_ about her. Kaneki spent days trying to figure out what changed, reading into her every action and word. That was his duty as a friend, he supposed; if something was going on with Hide, he had to know what it was, so that maybe he could repay her for everything she'd done for him. It came to him suddenly one day as they were walking to school. Hide was taking up more space, being more outspoken... really, it seemed as if she was acting like a boy.

Things started to get even stranger when Kaneki opened the door to a short-haired Hide. Her long, thick hair had been chopped off haphazardly; all that remained was a fuzzy, ear-length mess of hair. Kaneki gasped in surprise, which quickly turned to confusion. "Uh... Hide...?"

Hide rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah, my mom kicked me out of the house for cutting my own hair..." She grinned sheepishly. "Can I come in?"

 

They were chatting in Kaneki's room, him sitting on the bed and Hide looking through his closet, when Kaneki finally built up the courage to ask and get to the bottom of things. "Hey, Hide?"

"Mm-hmm?" Hide hummed, as she took out shirts and pants seemingly at random. What she was doing in there, Kaneki wasn't sure, but it somewhat fit his theory.

"You... are a girl, right?" Kaneki asked. "I mean, lately you're acting like a boy, if that makes sense... and... I don't get it."

Hide was silent for a few minutes. "Uhh." She(?) paused. "That's what they tell me. But... like... I don't feel like that. I think, maybe, I'm like... a boy on the inside?"

Kaneki nodded. "Oh...," he said thoughtfully. "I think I understand. Maybe."

Hide laughed. "It's okay if you don't," he assured him. "Just... call me a boy, okay?" He cleared his throat, and said in a deep voice, "My name is Nagachika Hideyoshi, but you can call me Hide!"


End file.
